A drunken kiss and a kid's wise words
by Nameless Rose
Summary: Because in the end, a drunken kiss on new years eve and Aaron's wise words where all it really took for Stan and Kyle to have their Once Upon a Time. Style. Picture by xNoWherex


**Title: **A drunken kiss and a kid's wise words

**Summary: **Because in the end, a drunken kiss and Aaron's wise words where all it really took for Stan and Kyle to have their Once Upon a Time. Style.

**A/N: **I wrote this once before from Stan's point of view, but it was really stupid and I never posted it. Basically, I started re-writing the whole thing five days ago and got really lazy at the end, but who cares, I'm kind of okay with how it ended up! Oh, and the picture for this story is by xNoWherex on deviantart!

Ta Ta!

_South Park © Trey Parker and Matt Stone._

* * *

Stan Marsh and Wendy Testaburger where only eighteen years old when they had their first, and only, child. Stan's parents offered to pay for an abortion, Wendy's parents offered to adopt the child. Stan and Wendy refused to both; It didn't matter that they where young, it didn't matter that they hadn't finished high school.

They wanted this child.

The day Wendy found out she was pregnant was the happiest day of her life, the day she told Stan about it was the happiest day of his life. Had Wendy not been pregnant then yes, they would have waited for a few more years, but that didn't really matter now. The child was there.

Their son was born and Wendy and Stan agreed to call him Aaron, just because Wendy really liked that name. The grandparents, of both sides, had been doubtful about the whole pregnancy, but upon seeing their grandchild, their worries washed away and the four of them offered to help out in whatever way they could.

For Stan Marsh, life seemed like a fairytale.

Too fuckin' bad there's no such thing as a fairytale in real life, huh?

Stan still recalls opening the door to see the police standing there, still recalls screaming in fear and pain as he saw the body of his wife, only twenty-two years old (he'd kissed her goodbye before going to work that morning, god damn it!), laying still and lifeless.

A drunk driver, a broken traffic light and a truck had been all it took to take Wendy Marsh -married to Stan a year after Aaron was born- out of her husbands life.

Aaron Marsh, four years old when all these horrors took place, had never been as scared in his short life. As his father broke down, the young boy realized something no young child should ever have to realize: Death was cold, death was forever and death had taken his mother.

Stan Marsh, for two months, lived day by day, being forced by his (super) best friend, Kyle Broflovski, to get out of his bed every morning, being forced by the same person to eat, go back to bed at night, be a father.

For two months, though Stan Marsh was far from okay, he felt like it would all get better some day.

And then it didn't.

Kyle Broflovski, one year younger than Stan Marsh, one winter evening texted his best friend since preschool a single _goodbye_ and wasn't seen in town again for nearly ten years. With Kyle, Stan's will to live, which had already been questionable, completely disappeared.

But he dragged himself trough the day, held up the facade of moving on, all for his son.

* * *

**September 2014**

It's the beginning of yet another day now -god knows Stan lives day by day-, September 3th of the year 2014, exactly fourteen years after Wendy died, and both Stan and his teenage son are running frantically around the apartment they live in; Aaron looks for the books he will need in school today, Stan looks for his car keys.

"Math." Stan states upon discovering one of his son's books on the kitchen counter, "You goth Math today?"

"Yeah," replies the teenager, looking up and taking the book his father hands him, before holding up a set of keys. "You're looking for these, right?"

Stan takes the keys and allows himself a sigh -not bothered, but not exactly content either- before offering: "I'll drive you to school?"

"You don't have to." Aaron tells him, but he's already stuffing his Math book in his bag and getting ready to go.

Stan stares at his son; the boy looks like him. Both the man and the teenager have black hair, dark brown eyes and a slightly tanned skin. Aaron also wears Stan's old head, he found it in a box when they moved into this apartment four years ago and hasn't taken it off since -quite literally-.

* * *

Aaron goes to the same high school Stan went to -the same high school everyone in South Park went to, goes to and will always go to-. When Stan drops him off, the boy turns around and flashes his father a grin before meeting up with Cody McCormick at the gate of South Park High.

Cody and Aaron have been friends since preschool. Stan isn't happy Aaron has a friend like that, in fact; it scares him; friends can hurt you, they can shatter your very being. It probably isn't normal for him to wish that his son would be home more often, though, so he seals his lips and forces himself to be glad his son has a best friend.

He knows Aaron will be fine, either way. The teen is strong, so much stronger then Stan is. Stan held on to Wendy and never let go, even after she'd been dead for a long time and it had started to get unhealthy. Aaron isn't like that; he cried over the loss of his mother for about three months, but then started realizing that crying wasn't going to bring her back and slowly but surely moved on.

* * *

Aaron doesn't like school, he really doesn't; most of his teachers are complete dumb-asses.

When he enters the classroom for first period, he is surprised to see not mr. Garrison (who somehow made it to teaching in High school after all these years), but a man he doesn't know in front of the class. The man has curly red hair, a light skin with freckles, sparkling green eyes and glasses. He wears an orange sweater and green pants and is really tall.

When the bell rings, the class goes silent to listen to this man, who is apparently their teacher now. The man gives them a quick smile, grabs a crayon and then turns around to write his name on the board. He then turns back towards the class and announces:

"My name is mr. Broflovski, and I'll be your teacher from now on." His voice is high pitched, but deep at the same time.

Aaron just stares at the man for a few seconds -doesn't he know this guy?- as memories from his four year old self threaten to play out in his mind. In the end, however, he was too young to remember his fathers ex best friend now, and all that he might remember about the man is pushed away by the very vivid memory of his mothers death, leaving him to come up completely empty.

Mr. Broflovski starts his explanation of Math, then, and Aaron has no more time to ponder on who this man is.

* * *

Stan works every day except Friday and Saturday. His shifts at the animal clinic start at ten o'clock in the morning, and end at five o'clock in the afternoon. When he gets home, he usually cooks up dinner in an hour, but sometimes Aaron gets bored in the hour that he's home alone; those are the days Stan comes home to the smell of food -already cooking-.

Today is one of those days; Stan opens the door and then shuts it close behind him. He hangs up his brown jacket, kicks of his equally brown shoes and enters the kitchen, scowling at his fourteen year old son. "You know, when I got bored at your age, I would play video-games, not cook."

Aaron playfully rolls his eyes; "You're welcome."

Stan sets the table and then sits down, following his sons movements as he makes spaghetti.

"So how was school today?" asks the man, not entirely sure if he should ask; there's another reason for his son to cook, though that's a reason he barely uses: Sometimes, Aaron cooks when he gets frustrated about something.

"Oh, it was okay." the teenager mutters, which tells Stan that there is definitely something up.

"What did mr. Garrison do?" he asks his son suspiciously, a frown upon his features. Over the course of the years, mr. Garrison has done a bunch of dumb things, and it sometimes worries him that the man is still allowed to teach.

"Well, actually..." Begins Aaron, "...mr. Garrison isn't our teacher anymore."

This surprises Stan; "He's not?"

"No, but our new teacher..." Aaron pauses, seemingly looking for words, "I feel like I know him." he then decides on saying, "I just can't figure out from what."

"Well, what's his name?" asks Stan because maybe he knows his sons new teacher, and there is no harm in asking either way.

"Mr. Broflovski." Aaron answers.

All color drains from Stans face and his smile falters. Luckily, his son is turned around and doesn't see this.

Surely Aarons new teacher isn't _Kyle_ Broflovski. There are more Broflovski's out there, right? Maybe it's Ike, or even someone else entirely!

Yet, he can't stop himself from asking: "W...what does your teacher look like?"

"He had red hair." Aaron seems to recall, "Really curly red hair."

Stan doesn't sleep very well that night.

* * *

On Friday evening, Kenny McCormick and Cody McCormick stand at the Marsh's doorstep. Kenny, Cody's father and one of the few friends Stan has, has really made something of himself; he's a local fisherman now, and makes enough money for a living.

Stan is glad that at least his friends life worked out, despite the fact that Kenny's wife left him (which doesn't actually seem to bother the man all that much anymore).

The McCormicks bring with them a King size pepperoni Pizza, and while the kids attack the food and play video-games, Kenny participially drags Stan out of the front door; giving the children a salute as goodbye.

Stan doesn't like parties, he really doesn't. Kenny, however, already warned him yesterday that he was going to go, and that Stan is going to go with him whether he likes it or not.

The black haired man is still angry with his -somewhat- friend when they get to Craig Tuckers house. Craig got even ruder and angrier then he was in school -he's at the "_You damn children get the hell off my property!_" stage-, but somehow manages to keep his husband -Tweek Tweak, they didn't change names- happy and semi-calm.

When they enter the house, evidence of Craig and Tweek living there can be seen everywhere -pictures, coffee mugs, coats, etc.-, and that kind of bothers Stan. He's always thought that a house is a private place; a place where you can really see the side of a person he or she might not want you to see. That feels really intimate and Stan doesn't like that.

Upon entering the living room, Stan sees a bunch of people he knows from High School, and some people he doesn't know at all. The first person he recognizes is Eric Cartman -still fat- who has his arm draped around a small blond man -Butters Stotch-. After looking around for a while, he sees Clyde Donovan, Token Black, Bebe Stevens, Jimmy Valmer, Towelie (fuck, even that stupid towel is here? Seriously?) and...

No,_ you've got to be kidding, right_? Fate really wants to screw him over, huh?

Lastly, he meets eyes with Kyle Broflovski, who seems to have not grown older at all in ten years, except that he looks really tired. This, however, doesn't stop his eyes from having that constant sparkle Stan remembers so well.

Stan turns around and hurries into the kitchen, trying very hard to catch his breath and _not_ have a panic attack as he leans against the counter; but he has those a lot, panic attacks, and he can't seem to escape one now.

To make it all even better, Eric Cartman enters the kitchen.

"'Sup, dude?" Asks the fat-ass, leaning against the counter next to Stan. Now that Stan looks at him a little better, he did lose _some _weight. He also notices that Cartman's brown hair is slightly graying and that his eyes aren't as harsh as they used to be anymore. Stan wonders if that has something to do with Butters -that was Butters he had his arm draped around, right?-.

Forcing himself to sound normal, Stan answers: "Oh, you know. Same old, same old. How'd _your_ life turn out? I never heard anything from you after high school."

Cartman rolls his eyes, "Well, I killed some more people and ended up in jail."

Stan just stares at him.

"Okay, okay." Cartman grins, "I married Butters two years after high school and started working at some random toy factory. That factory is mine now, Cartman Toys, you might have heard of it, and I'm not exactly poor, so I guess my life turned out all right."

"You married Butters," Stan drawls out, "Huh."

"So, how long's it been?" Cartman wonders, "Ten years?"

"Fourteen." Stan says, "It's been fourteen years."

"Too damn long, that's for sure." Cartman announces loudly, turning towards the door, "and if it isn't our sneaky little Jew."

Stan turns to stare at the male who has entered the kitchen, Kyle, with wide eyes. Kyle doesn't seem to notice his ex-best friends distress and instead glares at Cartman: "Shut up, fat boy! I'm _way _taller then you are."

Cartman shrugs, "Still a little Jew to me."

Kyle rolls his eyes, but doesn't seem to mind and instead shifts his focus to Stan. "Stan Marsh." He cocks his head to the right, "Is that you? You look... old, actually."

Stan rolls his eyes, but doesn't answer.

He has nothing to say to Kyle.

* * *

Stan leaves shortly after and because Kenny doesn't want to go yet, he walks home alone. Halfway, however, Kyle Broflovski catches up to him. Stan doesn't know why the redhead is so determined to talk to him, but he stops anyway, to let Kyle catch his breath -better get this confrontation over with-.

When the two start walking again, it's in silence for about ten minutes, until Stan can't take it any longer; "So, how long have you been back?" he wonders.

"A few months." Kyle admits, "I was going to call you, but the number I've got is outdated."

Stan thinks that's a stupid excuse. In South Park, easy isn't enough of a word when it comes to how quickly you can get someones phone number. He doesn't say that, though, instead he says: "Probably for the best."

Kyle doesn't answer to that until a while later, when he says: "You're still angry, huh?"

Stan is more than just angry, but he doesn't think saying that will do him any good. He ponders on what he _should_ say, for a while, which turns out to be; "I needed you."

Kyle looks him in the eye, looking sad. The sparkle in his eye is momentarily gone, replaced with something else, something Stan doesn't get, something he's never seen in Kyle's eyes before. After a few seconds, he has to look away and Kyle finally answers.

"I know. I'm sorry." He sounds world weary. Stan wonders what happened to this man that was once his best friend.

"Sorry doesn't change anything, you know." Stan whispers, "Sorry doesn't change those years."

Kyle doesn't answer to that at all. He just stares ahead, looking so incredibly down that Stan, for a second, feels a pang of worry for the redhead. Kyle might not look it, but Stan suddenly feels like something happened, something Kyle is keeping from the world.

Kyle is keeping up a facade, just like he himself is.

"So what happened?" Stan hears himself ask, "Why did you just up and leave?" There is so much more he wants to add to that question, but he feels like Kyle might not answer him already, let alone if he adds more questions.

"I... I came out to my parents." Kyle mumbles. "And they kicked me out."

"You..." Stan mumbles, not understanding what that means until suddenly, it hits him; "Oh..." A few seconds of silence while the new information lingers between the two, and then; "Why didn't you just come to me?"

"Well, you just lost your wife... I didn't want to bother you with it." Kyle explains, sounding pained, "I just felt like I didn't know what to _do _anymore. I didn't know where to turn or who to talk to..." Tears are threatening to spill, Stan can hear it, but he doesn't interrupt the redhead, afraid he might never hear the full story if he does. "So I left." Kyle concludes, "And I hated myself for it for so long..."

"I'm sorry." Stan whispers, "I'm sorry you felt like you couldn't come to me, and I'm sorry I didn't... look for you, or whatever. I should have done _something_..."

"You had your kid to take care of, and you where still grieving." Kyle looks up, searching Stan's face as if to look for evidence of something. "You still are, aren't you?"

Stan wants to tell Kyle he's fine, he wants to say that Kyle shouldn't worry; it's none of his business either way. Most of all, though, he wants to tell Kyle that they're not talking about _him_ right now, that Kyle looks like he needs to vent.

But he doesn't, because his throat gets closed up. After a few seconds, he just looks away and forces out, his throat still closed up with tears he never got to cry; "God fucking damn it."

"It's okay to admit that you're sad, you know..." Kyle tells his ex-best friend, "You can't move on unless you admit there is something you need to move on from."

Stan stops his walking, staring at the other man for a few seconds as he stops and turns around to stare back. For a second, the two lock eyes and there is a rush of familiarity. But then it breaks, and the two are apart again, because they really aren't anything more the strangers anymore, are they?

* * *

Stan doesn't know it, but Aaron can often tell when his father is distracted by something. Usually, there are moments in which the teenager does something that reminds Stan of Wendy. Those are the quiet days.

Today is different. Stan is distracted enough to drop the same object multiple times, but he doesn't seem the sad kind of distracted. Aaron stares at the man for a while, until, around five o'clock in the afternoon, the doorbell rings. Both Stan and his son stare at the door for multiple seconds, and then give each other a look that says; _are you expecting someone?_

Finally, Stan walks over to the door and opens it to reveal Kyle standing there. It's the first time that Stan notices that Kyle is a lot taller then he is, and that's sort of funny. The look Kyle is giving him, however, is not. The redhead looks like he might cry, and Stan feels a pang of worry before he reminds himself that Kyle and him aren't friends anymore.

"Stan..." Kyle chokes out, bringing his hand to his mouth to silence himself. He shakes his head and Stan swears he sees tears escaping his ex-friends eyes. "I...I'm sorry," Whispers Kyle after gathering himself, "I don't know why I'm here... I didn't know where else to go..."

"What happened?" Stan asks before he can stop himself.

"My mother..." Kyle says, sounding collected again (a facade Stan can see trough without even trying), "Ike called me this morning... My mother died." He shakes his head, his curls dancing around his head, "I didn't speak with her in ten years, and now I didn't even get to say goodbye..."

Stan doesn't know what to do; frankly, he isn't sure if he should do something at all. Seeing Kyle like this, though, reminds him of his younger years, years in which they would come to each other to vent. He wasn't there in one of Kyle's worst times, however. Never mind the fact that Kyle wasn't there either after that; he'd been there in the beginning, until things had forced him to stop that.

Stan realizes, in that moment, that perhaps, he's just been a really shitty friend.

"Let's go for a walk, dude." he says.

"Okay." Kyle answers.

* * *

The September wind is freezing. Both men are hidden away in their coats, completely silent. They don't need to talk, mostly because they aren't entirely sure what to say. Stan doesn't mind the silence, and he doesn't think that Kyle does, either. He knows that they should say something, though, because no matter how they both might feel, things can't_ just _go back to normal.

So, despite everything he's feeling, he says; "I know that a lot has happened, Kyle, but I feel like maybe we can try to... be friends again?"

He's almost scared to look up, almost scared to see Kyle's face, but he watches it anyway. Kyle looks down, the sparkle in his eyes once again dimmed. Stan suddenly remembers the pain he felt right after he heard Wendy died. Kyle just lost his mother this morning, and his last memory of her was getting kicked out of the house.

To be completely honest, Stan has no idea how Kyle might feel right now.

But he knows it isn't good.

"It's not going to be that easy, Stan." Kyle whispers, "I know that. I'm not stupid." A moment of silence as the boys eyes meet, a quiet wave of understanding between them. No, it will most certainly not be easy, but that doesn't mean they can't try.

* * *

**December 2014**

On December 24th, Christmas evening, Stan comes home to the smell of food.

And it isn't just the regular kind of food Aaron usually cooks up when bored or frustrated, either. The teen has the very limited knowledge of Spaghetti and Pizza -the latter of which he only makes when he isn't too lazy to do so, but Stan still likes the fact that his son took the time to learn how to make it-.

In the kitchen, he stumbles upon the unusual sight of Aaron sitting at the kitchen table with his homework in front of him -already a rare sight by itself-, and Kyle, standing at stove and stirring something in a pot. The two look up from their activities to stare at Stan, when he enters, and Kyle smiles apologetically. "Hi... I hope you don't mind me being here..."

"Of course he doesn't." Aaron says dismissively, looking back towards his homework (Stan swears he's only doing his homework because his teacher is actually here to remind him of it), he then addresses his father; "Hi dad, I invited mr. Broflovski for dinner, we weren't going to do anything special, right?"

Stan stares between the two, before finally answering; "Uh... no."

Stan isn't stupid, he knows his son probably planned this: Aaron has been catching wind of the two ex-best friends trying to rekindle their friendship, so he most likely decided to give them a little push. Which isn't very hard for him, either, all he had to do was walk up to his teacher and invite him for dinner.

"I uh... I'm making soup." Kyle tells Stan, "I hope that's okay."

"Dude, I was planning on ordering Chinese, so I'm okay with whatever." Stan admits, his eyes then shifting to the teenager sitting at the table, "You trying to please your teacher, or what?"

Aaron gives him a toothy grin, but doesn't deny it, leading Kyle to laugh.

"Oh, I see how it is." says the redhead, putting his hands on his hips, "I'll remember that next time I need a volunteer in front of the class."

"Oh, come on! Really?" Aaron asks, "That's so unfair!"

Kyle rolls his eyes, "Just kidding, kid. Never mind that, you need to clear the table, the food's ready."

Aaron does as he is told and then helps Stan set the table. Kyle turns out to be surprisingly good company -and a good cook at that-, and during dinner the three joke around a little. Aaron and Kyle talk a bit about a project they are going to be working on in school next week, and Stan finds himself listening closely to his son and his ex-best friend, liking how they communicate.

His son seems to like Kyle a lot, and when Kyle -after being called 'mr. Broflovski' for the fourth time that night- announces to the teen that outside of school he'd rather be called by his first name, this affection seems to grow. Stan finds himself smiling because of that.

He doesn't know why it seems so important to him that Aaron likes Kyle, it just_ is_.

After dinner, Stan and Kyle decide on doing the dishes together while Aaron -after asking for permission- leaves the apartment to meet up with Cody, which Stan feels surprisingly okay about. During washing the dishes -Kyle washes, Stan dries-, the men chat about random things, but as Stan puts away the last plate, he can't help but say: "Thank you... for coming over. I had fun."

He sees the corner of Kyle's mouth twitch upward as he turns towards Kyle, and feels himself freeze. He doesn't know why, but that smile is just so _Kyle_. He can still recall asking Kyle to be his best man, and the corner of his friends mouth twitching up _just like that_.

He misses those days, really. The days in which he could count on Kyle to be his best friend. It was an unmistakable fact, like it is an unmistakable fact that the snow is cold. Now, Stan doesn't know what Kyle is to him anymore. He doesn't feel like a friend, but he doesn't feel like just someone he knows, either.

Damn it, he's staring. Kyle's smile is gone now, but he still can't bring himself to stop staring at the redhead. He can see his friend swallow as they stare each-other in the eye. Kyle is so much taller then he is, and for a second Stan feels as if this should bother him, but then he realizes that he _likes_ it, he likes being smaller than Kyle.

The day walker murmurs something Stan only barely understands, and it still takes him a few seconds before he realizes what Kyle is asking; "Is it okay if I kiss you?"

Stan has no idea why he agrees, but he does.

Kyle moves forward as Stan stands there, completely frozen, his eyes wide open. Their lips brush together for only a mere second before Kyle pulls away, breathing in deeply and holding Stan by the shoulders as if he is afraid the man might fall over.

"Kyle... I..." Stan begins, not sure what to say. He doesn't exactly know why he just allowed that to happen, but he at least knows that he doesn't _dislike _it.

Maybe he just doesn't _dislike _Kyle.

"It's okay, Stan." Kyle announces, "I don't think we should be doing this right now. You and I _both _aren't ready, for different reasons, bot both not ready all the same."

Stan wants to ask why Kyle isn't ready, and how he knows that Stan isn't, either, but he doesn't. Instead, he just hugs Kyle, like they used to do when they where younger, and says; "Thanks, dude."

* * *

On new years eve, December 31th, Kyle invites Stan and Aaron over to his house.

At first, Stan isn't sure if they should go, especially because Kyle insists that if Stan gets too drunk -something which doesn't happen that much anymore, but Kyle doesn't know that- they can just have a guest room. He agrees on coming anyway, though, mostly because his son keeps whining about it until he does so.

Aaron has taken to Kyle, both as his teacher and as his friend, like fish to the sea. He seems to really get along with the redhead, and they share a mutual love for comedy movies -though that love on Aaron's side wasn't there before, and Stan suspects Kyle might have infected him- which they often discuss when they have the chance.

Kyle has a cute orange little townhouse with four bedrooms, two bathrooms, a large kitchen and an equally large living room. Stan doesn't know why Kyle needs such a big house when he lives all by himself, but he has to admit the house suits Kyle. Normally, Stan doesn't like going to other people's houses -too intimate-, but he doesn't mind now.

The redhead opens the door exactly 36 seconds after they ring the bell -Stan most definitely did _not _count- and gives them _that _smile as he steps aside to let them in. He ruffles Aaron's hair -something the boy doesn't seem to mind, which is a miracle- and then stares at Stan awkwardly before they give each other a quick hug.

Truth be told, Stan and Kyle haven't had an actual conversation since Christmas. Kyle has been over once, mostly upon Aaron's insistence, but dinner was tense and Kyle left almost instantly after. When his son asked Stan about it, he just muttered something about having had a fight -which is far from what happened, but Aaron doesn't know that-.

As the three enter the living room, the teen begins to wander around to look at multiple pictures while Kyle disappears into the kitchen, leaving Stan to just stand around. After a while, he walks up to his son when the boy has looked at one picture for a long time and asks; "What are you looking at?"

Aaron doesn't answer, but instead waits for his father to see the picture himself. At first sights, it looks to be a very happy picture. It shows Kyle, just a bit younger then he is now -which means it could have very well been ten years ago, because Kyle hasn't changed much- and another man, who is surprisingly even taller than Kyle is. Both are smiling and the man -who has dark brown hair, green eyes and a skin tanned by the sun- has his arm draped around Kyle's shoulder.

It almost makes Stan smile, until he starts seeing the little details that have most likely caused his son to stare at the picture for so long. The man has mean eyes, and his hand, the one on the arm draped around Kyle's shoulder, is gripping Kyle's upper arm -what looks to be- just a bit too tightly. Kyle doesn't have any sparkles in his eyes; in fact, he looks tired and weary.

"Oh!" Stan and Aaron both turn around to look at Kyle, who's entered the living room again with a plate of pancakes. The redhead puts down the plate and then walks over to Stan and the teenager, picking up the picture and walking into the Kitchen with it.

The black haired male commands Aaron to stay in the living room and then follows Kyle, watching as he throws the picture in the trash.

"Shit dude, I'm sorry you guys needed to see that. I was going to throw it out earlier but I forgot." Kyle says.

Stan knows there's something up with the picture, but also knows that Kyle won't talk if he points out that there is, so instead, he says: "Dude, no problem I guess. It's _just _a picture."

Kyle stares at him for a few seconds, and then says: "Yeah, just a picture."

Stan leans against the kitchen counter, looking Kyle over. The taller man looks different from a few minutes ago, like someone told him some bad news. "Who was the guy?"

"My boyfriend." Kyle mutters as he walks towards a cabinet, taking out three plates.

The news does _not _sit with Stan well. The man in the picture looked like kind of an asshole, and if that isn't bad enough, Kyle _kissed him_ -sort of-. Does that mean Kyle is unhappy?

"Right," Stan frowns. "Boyfriend. Should've figured."

Kyle looks up as if he's a deer in headlights and says, "Oh! No, I meant he was my boyfriend back _then_. He... He and I aren't together anymore."

Stan lifts one of his eyebrows, asking without really asking.

Kyle sighs, sitting down at the kitchen table and resting his head in his hands. "He uh... he's dead." he announces, "He committed suicide two years ago."

"Oh." Stan feels his eyes widen, unsure of what to do. "Kyle, I'm so sor,-"

"Don't you dare say you're sorry, Stan." Kyle warns, looking up again sharply, "I've heard that enough. He was an abusive asshole and he deserved to die, period."

Stan searches Kyle's face. The man he's looking at doesn't look like the Kyle he knows -or knew-, he looks so angry, so weary, so,- "Wait." Stan says, not sure if he's interrupting his own thoughts or trying to make a point, "_Abusive_?"

"Yes, Stan." Kyle says, his shoulders slumping, "Abusive, do I need to spell it out? It means he,-"

"I know what it means!" Stan defends, "But Kyle, did that guy actually _hurt _you?"

"A few times." Admits the redhead, "But it was my fault! I couldn't make him happy."

"So you two should have broken up, that's not a reason for him to..." Stan stops, trying to collect his thoughts. Finally, he just says; "Dude, are you going to be okay?"

"I'm fine." Kyle says harshly, abruptly standing up again, "We shouldn't be talking about this. Your son is right in the living room."

Stan can't help but agree to that, even though he actually wants to hear every single detail there is about what happened. Now that he knows this, he feels like even more of an asshole: Kyle left town because he felt like he couldn't come to him. If he hadn't left, he would have never met this abusive asshole and... Yeah, and what? Their life could have been a fairytale?

There's no such thing as a fairytale in life, and Stan isn't even sure if that's what he wants, anyway. As of right now, Stan doesn't really know what to feel about Kyle. Kyle is... different from when they where younger, and yet so much the same. That, and Stan hasn't ever even thought about a _man_ before, he isn't sure if Kyle should be the exception.

The evening proceeds somewhat normal after that, though it's still tense between the adults. They watch a movie while eating pancakes -a comedy, because Kyle and Aaron both like that and Stan doesn't mind- and then the adults drink a beer while the teen is offered ice cream.

Stan has to admit that, after his third beer, he's kind of foggy. He hasn't really been drinking for a few years now and the alcohol is hitting him pretty hard. Kyle, however, seems to be worse. Stan doesn't know how many beers he's had, but he's most certainly drunk.

Stan should probably get angry -Aaron is right there, after all-, but Kyle isn't an unpleasant drunk. He just makes lame jokes that only he thinks are funny, and he talks a lot. Stan kind of thinks that's funny, he's never seen Kyle drunk before.

At twelve o'clock exactly, the three drink on the new year -Stan allows his son _one_ sip of his beer, and Aaron doesn't seem to like it- and then the teen announces that he's tired, so Kyle, who's now mostly just constantly laughing without telling any jokes, sets him up with an air mattress in one of the empty rooms.

Stan, however, is unaware of the conversation Kyle and Aaron have while they're away.

"Hey, Kyle?" asks the teen as the redhead hands him one of his old shirts, which is most likely a dress for the teenager.

"Yeah?" Laughs Kyle. He has a pleasant laugh. When Aaron was younger, his father would sometimes scare him when he was drunk, but Kyle doesn't. He likes that, he thought that all adults got scary when they where drunk.

"Do you have feelings for my dad?"

This seems to sober the adult up a little. Trough his haze -Aaron sees- he's genuinely thinking about the question, so when Kyle finally says; "I don't exactly know." the teenager believes him.

"Do you think my dad has feelings for you?" Is Aaron's follow up question. Kyle just stands there, dumbfounded.

"I don't know."

"I think he does." Aaron announces, "But I don't think he really knows, either... I think you have feelings for him, too."

Kyle seems to consider this, and then he just shrugs. "Maybe. Goodnight, Aaron."

"Night, Kyle." Is the younger boy's answer. He hasn't said 'goodnight' to anyone since he was four, when his mother died, mainly because his fathers nights where never good back then, and there was nobody else to say goodnight to.

Kyle leaves the room and walks downstairs to further get extremely drunk with Stan, who has no idea about the conversation that just took place.

After another two hours, Stan is at the stage in which he spills all his secrets, and Kyle... well, Kyle is mostly just silently staring ahead like some kind of zombie. The two, however, don't seem to care how they are acting right now, Stan just keeps on talking and Kyle just keeps on being silent.

"Dude," Stan says at some point, when it's nearing three o'clock, "I just realized today that I, you know, might have a thing for dudes."

Kyle doesn't answer, he just stares at the TV, which has been playing a vampire movie -Twilight? He doesn't care, it looks like a fun movie to him- for about fifteen minutes now, on mute -okay, so maybe he doesn't really like this movie, it looks like a teenager thing, and without the sound it's just like, people making really weird faces-.

"I mean," Stan continues on, "I loved... love... loved...love Wendy and all... but it was just, we were together since third grade and it just sort of escalated from there. I didn't need to be straight or gay with her, I was just... well, Stan, you know?"

Kyle's eyes shift towards his friend in acknowledgment of the words, mostly because the redhead doesn't trust himself to be able to talk without puking on the carpet or something embarrassing like that.

"But, then I look at you, and you're just so... _Kyle_, you know?" Stan proceeds, probably unaware that he's even saying anything -by this point, he's just gotten to literally saying anything that comes to his mind, and he might not even know he's saying the stuff he thinks out loud-, "And I like that, I like you're hair, and you're eyes, but it's more then that. It's like... you're smart, and you're always _there_, and you don't partisila... participet?" Stan struggles to find the right word for a while, but eventually ends up saying; "You don't allow stupid shit to happen. I like that a lot, I like you a lot, and,-"

"_Duuuude_," Kyle drawls out, which is the first thing he says in about an hour, a large grin on his face.

And then it just happens. The space that was previously between them is gone, and they're attacking each others lips like there is no tomorrow. The kiss is sloppy, and their teeth click together awkwardly, but neither seems to notice.

When they finally break apart for air, they stare at one another in a drunken daze. They probably won't remember any of this tomorrow, but that doesn't matter right now, because at least they have this moment, right now.

Stan smiles at Kyle, opens his mouth to say something... And then does what Kyle was afraid he'd do himself.

He pukes on the carpet.

* * *

**January 2015**

They did remember, mostly because Stan was somewhat sober again after he'd puked, and when Kyle had cleaned up the mess, he was sober too. Sober enough, at least, to remember what had happened, but that didn't mean they didn't both have a killer hangover next day.

It's now January 17th, and Stan and Kyle have been... well, ignoring each other would be too big of a word; Kyle still comes over to Aaron and Stan's apartment each few days, upon the teenagers insistence, and the two still talk openly, but neither has mentioned the kiss after they both confirmed they remembered.

Right now, Kyle is once again over for dinner. Aaron has been frustrated about something for a while now, and doesn't want to talk about it, but this has resulted in him insisting he'll make pizza. For once, Stan is the one who has invited Kyle, mostly because he's hoping Kyle might be able to talk to his son -because heck, Stan has tried and tried and tried and it just doesn't work-.

The three are sitting at the table right now, eating in silence. After a while, Stan sends Kyle a look before averting his eyes to his son, who is picking at his pizza but not eating it. Kyle gets the hint and nods.

"So, Aaron..." He then says. "You were doing well in class today."

"Kyle, it's Saturday." The teenager reminds his teacher, looking up with a look that suggests he's trying to decide if he should say something or keep it to himself. Kyle waits patiently, seeing the boy struggle, before Aaron suddenly blurts out; "How did you know you like boys?"

A deadly silence falls over the table as the teen looks away, blushing, shaking his head and muttering out a; "Never mind."

"No, Aaron..." Stan says, standing up and sitting down in the seat next to his son. "Why are you asking this?"

Kyle quietly sits down on Aaron's other side, but doesn't say anything, unsure if it's his place to do so. The teen is, after all, _Stans_ son.

"I just... I don't think I like girls." Aaron admits, "I mean, they're nice, and they're pretty, but I just don't see myself falling _in love _with one. And then I think of..." He pauses, a frown on his features, "Promise me you won't get mad?" He looks at his father.

"Unless you broke the law, I promise." Stan nods.

"Cody and I have fooled around, a few times." Admits Aaron, sounding sort of ashamed but also... strangely filled with confidence. "And I think I might be into boys more then I'll ever be into girls."

Kyle stares at Stan as the dark haired man seems to mull this over, and smiles when the father says; "I think you'll be fine, Aaron. Just do whatever makes you happy, okay?" he then pauses, "As you're father, though, I think I'm supposed to say something like: 'You're way too young to be doing those kind of things, young man.'"

Aaron laughs, and rolls his eyes. "We haven't, you know... done weird stuff. We just uh... kissed a few times." he blushes as he admits this to his father.

"Oh. Good." Stan nods. "Now will you please stop worrying and just eat the pizza you insisted on making?"

"It's delicious, by the way." Kyle decides to add, which makes the teenager blush even more.

"Thanks Kyle, and uh... thanks dad." Aaron whispers, finally taking a bite of his food. "So... Are you two friends again?" He then wonders, "'Cause, I was thinking, you know, every time you two talk it's because of me... That's not a very good friendship."

"I wouldn't know about being _friends_, Aaron." Kyle says, eying Stan as he tells the teenager this, "It's been... weird." Stan finds himself blushing as he meets eyes with Kyle.

"Weird, huh? Oh, I see! So you're, like, friends with benefits?" Aaron asks.

Stan doesn't know why, but at that, he almost pukes. It's not that he's repulsed by the idea, because he isn't, but... Oh...

_Oh._

The last time he had a gag-reflex was with Wendy, in third grade, because he _liked _her.

Maybe he _likes_ Kyle.

"No!" Kyle says, "No, no, no. That would be... uh..."

"Even weirder." Stan finishes. "No, I think we're... uh..."

"_We_... are..." Kyle tries to finish, but he doesn't come very far, either.

They give each other a look. Finally, Stan answers. "I don't really know what you are when you get drunk and start making out." That probably isn't something you should say to your teenage son, but _Kenny McCormick_ has watched Aaron during hours Stan had to work, when he was younger, so he's probably heard worse.

Kyle's face gets as red as his hair.

* * *

**July 2015**

Summer in South Park is short, but very warm. The window of Kyle's bedroom is opened completely, making the room slightly more comfortable for the two men resting on the bed. Stan's head rests on Kyle's chest, Kyle is absentmindedly petting Stans hair.

Nothing happened today, and nothing will probably really happen for a while, but that's okay. Neither of the two are ready for that, anyway.

Aaron is asleep in one of the spare bedrooms right now, or well, he's probably texting Cody. Stan has caught his texting past his bedtime multiple times in the past two months, which is exactly the amount of time Aaron and Cody have been dating.

As for Stan and Kyle, they've been dating since January this year, when Aaron announced that 'they sounded like boyfriends to him'. That probably wasn't really what it sounded like, but Stan's son is a smart kid. He knew that his father and teacher where just beating around the bush and denying what they really wanted.

Aaron thinks the world might be a better place if everyone just simply says what they want, and maybe why they want it sometimes, too.

Stan and Kyle hadn't known what to say to Davids statement, but they hadn't denied it and upon talking later, they realized that there was really no harm in trying.

And there really wasn't any harm. For the past months, the two have been together. Of course, the men fight sometimes, but that's all normal and healthy. After all, fairy tales don't exist in real life. After their fights they always have a good, long conversation, too, so it won't do any permanent harm.

Then there are the things they need to work on: Kyle still flinches away when Stan raises his voice, but he's in therapy for that now, and Stan still has a panic attack, sometimes. But that's getting less and less in time.

They're far from okay, but both are smiling more and more every day. They've been worse, and the fact that they are getting better means a lot.

"Stan?" Mutters Kyle to the man who's half asleep -Stan likes it when Kyle pets his hair, it makes him sleepy-.

"Hmm?" asks Stan, his eyes shifting from the ceiling to where he thinks Kyle's face might be in the dim light.

"I think I love you..."

Stan tenses up, because that's the first time Kyle has said that to him after their falling out, and he knows Kyle doesn't just mean best friend love, but quickly relaxes and shifts his eyes to where he thinks the redheads face might be in the poorly lit room.

"Me too."

No, life certainly isn't a fairy tale, because life doesn't begin with 'Once upon a Time' and doesn't end with 'happily ever after'. Life begins when you're born, and ends when you die, which might very well mean that it _ends _with 'Once upon a time'.

But Stan's learned that life doesn't need to be a fairy tale, because day by day, he and Kyle are both smiling more, both still far from okay.

And you know what? He's just fine with that.


End file.
